


Eyes of Hope

by instantpuppypaper



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Depression, Frisk is secretly salty, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Mafia AU, Male! Frisk, Multi, Possession, Protective Sans, Tags to be added, Tsundere Sans, blind!Frisk, character death for the very end, let it be known, sans is kind of an ass
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-28
Updated: 2016-01-18
Packaged: 2018-05-02 01:50:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5229329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/instantpuppypaper/pseuds/instantpuppypaper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Suspicion hangs over the city of Ebott, almost as thick as the smog that blocks the sun. Two rival gangs wage a silent battle for control over the city, each believing they would bring peace to their people. Their methods, however, vary greatly.</p><p>Frisk is a blind human that just wanted to disappear, only to be found by one of the Gangs' leader. Taken in as her own, Frisk now finds himself desperately trying to flee Ebott before the monsters of the rivaling gang finds him. But as dreams reveal memories that never happened, Frisk finds himself needing to flee Ebott before he FINDS THEM.</p><p> </p><p>Alt. Title:<br/>"In Which Sans Regrets Making Promises Because He Is The Actual Worst at Keeping Them"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

_Long ago monsters and humans lived in harmony with one another. They were as one, and there was peace._

_However, the peace would not last._

_One day, a young monster killed a human child. The humans wept for the child, and banished the monsters from their cities, fearing they would loose their own young ones._

_Monsters became second-rate citizens, forced to do hard labor with barely enough pay to feed their families, much less keep a roof over their head. The monsters, in their desperation, lashed out at the humans knowing they would not be able to live in conditions like this for long. But the humans refused._

_Tightening their policy on monsters, the humans prohibited having anything to do with them. Often going out of their way to hunt down and kill monsters for sport._

_Having enough, the monsters retaliated and started a war, a war the monsters could not win. A monster’s soul is weak, and cannot stand up to a human’s, as a human’s soul is filled with something called DETERMINATION._

_Lacking this, the monsters were slaughtered. Having no other choice, they surrendered and were banished to the slums of Ebott, a smog-infested city where the sun was never seen. Monsters seen outside of Ebott were killed on sight._

_Not having a proper justice system, the monsters formed a Mafia gang known as The Ancients, which roughly ruled over Ebott._

_There was a tentative peace._

_The Mafia Boss and his wife had a child, who had one day saved a young human from a bear. The Mafia Bosses took the child in as their own, raising both of them with love and compassion. Ebott was happy._

_The human fell ill. The child wished to see the sun again, but the smog covered the city blocked the sun. Since monsters would be killed on sight outside of Ebott, the wish could not be fulfilled. With few doctors, and none that had access to the latest technology, the human child died._

_Wracked with grief, the son picked up the corpse of his sibling and snuck out of the city. He carried the child into the sun and cried out his anguish. But he was heard._

_Humans had been in the area, and seeing the monster with the dead child in his arms, they had assumed the worst. They attacked the son, but the son did not retaliate._

_He smiled sadly, and returned back to Ebott. Where upon entering his parent’s garden, died. His dust spread across the flowers his mother loved so much._

_The Mafia boss and his wife had lost two children that night._

_Inflicted with grief, the Boss declared that all humans who entered the city were to be killed on sight. His wife, destroyed over the loss of his children and disgusted at her husband’s barbaric actions, disappeared._

_A new gang with a mysterious Boss has since risen up to rival The Ancient’s reign: The Ruins. While the two do not actively fight, tensions are high. Both are in a stalemate, waiting for the other to give them a reason to attack._

**_The monsters no longer dream of peace._ **


	2. Golden Flower Tea

 

It was warm, lukewarm at best. Not warm enough to really consider wearing shorts, but too hot for a jacket. That was the standard around the village of Ebott.

 Just outside the walls laid a mountain. It was tall and powerful, shielding Ebott from the humans on the other side, but also acting as a reminder that they were no more than glorified prisoners to them. Still, as long as they remained in Ebott, they were safe from the humans.

 Though, on days like today, an oddity would happen. A human would appear, though they were usually killed off fast. This human was lucky.

“Howdy! I’m Flowey the Flower! Don’t see many of your kind around here, eh?”

 The flower who had spoken scowled when the human didn’t respond.  It approached the human slowly, but it was lying face down on the grass at the base of one of the cliffs jutting out from the side of Mt. Ebott.

 The grass around the human was bloodied, but the slow movement of the human’s chest confirmed that it was still alive. Flowey was sneaky, and was one of the only monsters that were able to patrol outside of the walls. Hence, what he was doing now.

 Feeling started to come back to the human as their fingers twitched. Not conscious quite yet, Flowey knew that he would have to make a report to the Boss before any of cronies from the Ancients came around. So the flower disappeared into the ground, leaving the nearly lifeless human alone for the time being.

 

* * *

 

 

The first thing Frisk noticed was that he was in a bed, or at least on a mattress of some sort. He could feel the springs under the thin layer of cushion, and was able to feel out a few holes as he shifted around a bit.

 Next thing that Frisk noticed was that he was indoors. The lack of breeze he had since come to know as standard for being outside was not present. Instead it was a uncomfortable stale heat. If Frisk didn’t know better, he would think he was being smothered.

 Weakly reaching up a hand, the human checked that he was, indeed, not being smothered. Frisk did a quick check over his body. He was alive, clearly, and didn’t seem to have any broken bones either. The grass must have cushioned his fall more that he thought.

 As Frisk tried to sit up, he was met with intense pain in his chest and abdomen. So he didn’t get away scot-free, fair enough. With a deep breath, Frisk was able to distinguish that he seemed to be in an old room. There was a dry sewage smell that lightly laced the air. He could pick out the sounds of outside, and talking people. There were some cars he could pick out, but the streets seemed more plagued with people than actual automobiles. That ruled out any major cities then.

 Frisk didn’t know of any villages near Mt. Ebott though, no one wanted to build here because of the superstition around monsters that lived here. Or, supposedly lived here. It was just an old wives tale, as he had been taught in school, monsters didn’t actually exist.

 There was a knock that snapped him from his pondering. A woman’s voice rang through like honey, “are you awake, little one?”

 Frisk didn’t feel terribly up to a response, so he remained quiet. He could hear the door creak open and soft steps approach his bed. Kind of like cat slippers, though Frisk only knew that sound because he had wanted a pair a few years ago for his birthday.

 The woman must have seen that he was awake from his open eyes, and set what sounded like a tray on the bed stand beside him. “I see you are. I brought you some tea, painkillers, and some toast. I didn’t want to get you a full meal, since I’m sure your stomach is a little queasy from your… trip.”

 She stopped talking and rested a soft hand on his forehead. Frisk noted that the hand was furry, and dimly came to the conclusion that monsters were indeed real. Frisk knew he would have freaked out more if he had the energy, right now he could hardly muster enough care to move.

 “Hm. You don’t have a fever, that’s a relief. Ah, where are my manners. You may call me Toriel, my child. You are very lucky Flowey found you, but you are safe now.” She said softly, sitting on the edge of the bed.

 “I was worried you wouldn’t have made it, we are very fortunate to have Pipit, she saved your life. You will get to meet her fully soon, she is off helping one of her fellow Froggits with a broken leg.”

 Froggits, Frisk reasoned, were probably some kind of frog monster. Frisk tried to sit up again, but couldn’t stay sitting. He would have lain back down, but he found himself resting against a strange warmth. He tensed immediately, Frisk didn’t like being touched, it made him rather uncomfortable. Frisk would have squirmed away, but he was just too weak to. So he remained laying there as the monster shifted and grabbed the tea and medicine.

 Toriel offered Frisk the medicine, or at least tried to. He could hear her realization at his lack of sight as she shifted his body up against the wall so she could hand him things properly.

 “Can you take the medicine on your own?” Toriel asked gently, taking Frisk’s hand and wrapping it around a warm mug. Frisk nodded, and held his other hand out for the painkillers. Frisk wasn’t a stranger to having to take medicine, so this was run of the mill stuff for him.

 He popped the pill in his mouth and washed it down with the warm tea. The tea was actually very refreshing. Frisk had never tried this sort of tea before, so he sniffed it experimentally. The human wasn’t a tea expert by a long shot, but he liked to think he would have been at least familiar with the various scents of teas.

 This one was just plain strange, good, but strange. Frisk decided that it must be a monster tea.

 Toriel seemed pleased by his action and gently rubbed his head. It reminded him of the way a mother should treat their child, and decided he didn’t mind being touched by Toriel too much. That is, as long as she didn't decide to give him a huge hug or anything crazy.

 There was a knock at the door again, which caused the weight from the bed to leave, signaling Toriel standing up. “Yes?”

 “Boss, The Ancients caught some rumors of the human. They send their warnings if they find it is true.” The voice replied. The sound it made was slow and almost weak sounding. More like a prolonged sigh than someone actually speaking.

 A low growl came from the room, Toriel, it seemed wasn’t too happy about the news. She gently rubbed Frisk’s head again and spoke softly, “don’t worry little one. You are safe here, I’ll keep you from harm.”

 Her voice raised some, to the monster on the other side of the door. “Thank you Napstablook, go ahead and gather the inner circle. We will need to have a meeting.”

 The Napstablook didn’t respond, but it seemed Toriel wasn’t expecting one as she gently patted his head once more and left the room.

 Alone with his thoughts, Frisk was left to come to terms with what was happening around him. So some monsters wanted him dead, but Toriel - who was also a monster - was going to protect him. He sighed and eased himself back down to a laying position. This was too much to bother taking in now; he should just focus on gathering his strength for tomorrow. He had a feeling he would need it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sans will be in the next chapter. Sort of, at least. The story will get moving after the next chapter. Gotta do that world building first though, amirite?


	3. Needing

It was so hot. A heavy weight pressed roughly on Frisk's chest, making it hard to breath. He could almost feel something squeezing his stomach, forcing him to vomit out his earlier meal with Toriel. What came out was anything but puke though. It was black, and despite the black world that surrounded Frisk, he could actually **_see_** it perfectly fine.

This wasn't right. Something was wrong, Frisk could feel it in every fiber of his being. 

The dense silence was pierced by a laugh that sounded more like nails on a chalkboard than someone expressing glee. Frisk watched as the black goo that came from him began to writhe, and eventually manage a rough shape. It... seemed to a human shape, but the form was so sinuous, he couldn't really tell. The mass continued to oscillate, and sounds started to scratch the back of his mind. 

"You'll kill them, you know" he heard, "you've done it before. You can't stop it... I _always_ win in the end."

Frisk could feel a distant memory of fire searing his skin, and a deep voice telling him to go to hell. But, Frisk was never in any fires... He didn't actively cause trouble, that memory could not have been his. 

"You will fight it, but you won't succeed. Give up now, **they** did."

 

* * *

 

Frisk shot up with a jolt. It felt like he had just been stabbed in the stomach, and was left with a dry and cottony mouth. He gulped and reached out to his right, gently feeling around for the mug of tea Toriel left for him before she went to her meeting. He clutched the mug and sipped on it while he tried to forget the feeling of being burned alive.

It had been a full day since Frisk had arrived at Ebott. He slept through most of it thankfully, but now had more energy than he could really deal with. Frisk hasn't been allowed to leave his room, as Toriel is terrified that if he does one of 'The Ancients' will see him. Unfortunately, it seems, his mind has been left to wander. It was never good when he was left alone with his thoughts for too long, though this was a bit much.

 His grip on the mug was strong enough to cause him to loose some feeling in the tips of his fingers, realizing this, he decided he better set the tea down. Frisk carefully swung his legs over the side of the bed, and slid off onto the cold floor. He hadn't expected the floor to be cold, as the air around him was warm. The human wiggled his toes, and ended up crouching down to run his fingers along the bottom of the floor. It was stone.

Curious, Frisk stood and picked his steps over to the wall, and ran his hands along the rough surface. The walls were also stone, interesting. Frisk had long thought that stone homes were a thing of the past, as they were expensive and hard to insulate. Maybe because the monsters lived right next to a mountain, stone was in more supply than wood?

_Monsters_. 

Frisk's hands balled into fists against the rough stone of his room. Monsters were real. They were _real_. The human pressed his forehead to the cool wall, trying to make sense of everything. This wasn't a dream, he could always see in his dreams. So... what was this? Were monsters actually real? There was no other explanation for Toriel. Why were they taught that monsters weren't real then?

He heaved a sigh, there was no point getting worked up over this. If Toriel wanted to hurt him, she would have by now. Any of the monsters would have. Turning, Frisk slid down the wall and brought his boney and freckled knees to his chest. He couldn't stand being in this room anymore. It was driving him nuts. Surely, if he just walked around the house it wouldn't be a problem, right? He wouldn't walk outside, and Frisk doubted that Toriel would have let someone from The Ancients come in. 

With this in mind, Frisk pushed himself to his feet and walked along the wall until he found the door. He carefully turned the knob and stepped out of the room for the first time. The floor was still stone, which likely meant the whole place was made of stone. As he shimmied out of the door and up against the wall, Frisk found himself curious how old these buildings actually were. He tried his best to be quiet, and keep alert for sounds. Even if he was fairly sure he would be safe, he didn't wish to get caught and in trouble. 

His left hand remained flush against the cold wall as the human picked his steps carefully. Even with how alert he was, Frisk couldn't hear everything. 

Startling, Frisk jumped backward when he felt his foot collide with something, or _someone_. It felt like Frisk had just stuck his foot in icey-cold jello. 

"Heeey. Thats... Not nice, you know." The jello spoke softly. It was the voice from before, Naptalook? Napstclook?

"S-sorry, I didn't know you were there." Frisk was quick to apologize, of course, he didn't need to make any more enemies.

The creature sighed apathetically, "its ok... I get stepped on a lot." 

"Perhaps not laying in hallways would help? Why not a bed or a bench?" 

Napstapook hummed softly, then seemed to shift in place (perhaps sitting up?). "I dunno. I like laying here because no one really comes down this hall a lot."

Frisk inclined his head and considered it, "but laying on the ground guarantees you will get stepped on eventually. Laying on a bed or a bench negates that by quite a bit."

The hum from the monster got louder, then stopped. They thought over the answer, but then seemed to lay back down. "I like laying on the floor, join me... if you want."

Not having much better to do, Frisk carefully lowered himself to the ground and crossed his hands over his stomach. His eyes closed as he listened to the soft hum from the monster beside him. It took a minute, but it seemed that hum was from a record player, as he could very faintly hear music. It was nice music, the human decided, and allowed himself to relax and enjoy the feeling of everything around him. Laying on the floor, as it turns out, was actually very calming.

"I see why you like the floor so much." Frisk commented after a couple minutes of silence. 

" _There you are! There, there, there_!" A sharp voice called, sounding like a winded croak. Frisk immediately sat up and tried to scramble to his feet, but ended up rolling his ankle and falling back down with a heavy thud. 

He heard the steps (hops?) getting closer until they fell short right in front of him. The monster chuffed, and tapped their foot on the ground. " _Napstablook. What are you doing? What, what, what?_ "

Napstablook (thats what it was) sighed sadly, "I was... just laying on the ground... like normal..."

" _With the human? They should be resting, you know. They, they, they._ " The monster chided, though it seemed their scolding meant little as their attention seemed to focus back on the human. " _And you, what are you doing out? Shouldn't you be resting? Shouldn't, shouldn't, shouldn't?_ "

Frisk gulped, "yes. I, just wanted to explore a bit. I was getting stir-crazy, you know?"

" _You... Wanted to stir something, like soup? Wanted, wanted, wanted?_ "

Shaking his head, Frisk decided it probably wouldn't be worth explaining.

The monster was silent for a moment or two, probably thinking everything over. Finally, they croaked in a pleased fashion, " _Yes, I do believe getting out and about would be good for your health. Yes, yes, yes."_ They gasped, and quickly continued, _"I am Pipit, by the way. It is nice to see you awake. It, it, it._ "

Pipit gently nudged Napstablook, " _come on you lazy thing, we have patrol today. Come, come, come._ "

The other monster sighed once more and gave his farewells as he went with Pipit to go 'patrol' or whatever. Having official permission, Frisk felt more confident roaming around the place. After pushing himself to his feet properly this time, he continued down the hall he was in. There weren't many monsters around here, though as he found his way down to what seemed like a front door, then a living room, Frisk quickly realized why. This must be Toriel's actual house, not some base of operation like he would have thought. 

Frisk didn't want to be a bother, but he did want to try and find Toriel. He was getting hungry, and he had no idea how to use the kitchen. The living room was a bit cooler than his room, and the stone was laid in a smooth tile fashion, which started at the front door. He could faintly smell a pie, so Frisk decided to follow his nose and navigated the living room up to what Frisk believed was the kitchen. The smell of fresh Butterscotch (or is that cinnamon?) filled the room. He approached the smell and found that there was indeed a fresh pie right there. After a couple careful pats around it, it seemed there was no knife for him to use. Bummer. 

In his own home, he would have dug through the drawers to find a knife, but this was not his home, and Toriel was being so kind to him; he didn't want to pry into her privacy. So he turned and left to try and find her again. This time going back with his right hand pressed against the wall, Frisk found a railing around where the front door was. Slowly, the human followed the railing that lead to some stairs down. Maybe she was in the basement?

Frisk hated stairs, they were difficult to walk down. Still the slight hunger pains in his stomach outweighed his distain. He picked his way down the stairs, slowly, and always making sure to check before he stepped. Frisk didn't want to step on another monster like Napstablook. Without an incident, Frisk made it down to the base of the stairs. There were some faint voices that could be heard from where he was, so he continued down the hall, though as he approached them, a knot filled his stomach that forced him to slow down and peek around the corner instead.

"Knock, knock." Frisk recognized that voice...

"Who's there?"

"Boo."

"Boo who?"

"Awh, dont cry, it was just a joke!"

Frisk could hear Toriel start laughing, followed soon by the other voice. The laugh was cheerful, but seemed... Empty. The other voice seemed to catch on to this as well.

"Boss?" They inquired, the voice was deep though held an air of restraint. For some reason it filled Frisk with dread.

"Sans, I am no longer your Boss. You know that." Toriel chided sadly, pressing her head against the door. "I... Found something. Something that could lead to war between our gangs."

The voice didn't immediately speak up, so Toriel took this as the time to explain: "Sans I found a human. He... He is young. I... I'm scared. If a human ever comes through here Sans, promise me you'll protect them?"

"Toriel... I can't." 

"Sans, _please_. They will die if left alone, I don't think I can keep him here forever... He'll want to go home eventually." Toriel begged, hands balling up into fists against the door. 

"I can't. You know I can't. Its one thing to turn a blind eye to his presence, but _actively help him_?" Sans sighed, "I can't."

"Papyrus?"

"... yeah. Its one thing if I get caught and killed, but Pap and I... We're a package deal. If I'm caught and killed, the Boss will kill him too. Or worse, kick him out of the gang. Pap can't survive on his own, he _needs_ me."

"Sans, please. You don't have to be seen with him, but a nudge in the right direction here and there. He needs guidance, Sans." Toriel pressed.

"... I... ugh." Sans groaned and sighed, "fine. I'll keep a socket out for him. But that's all I can do, nothing more. I'm not going to risk Papyrus's, or my own for that matter, well-being for some _human_."

"Thank you Sans, thank you." Toriel seemed pleased enough with that answer. Realizing that she probably was going to be heading back soon, Frisk turned heel and hurried back to the stairs and up them. He took care not to make any noise, as he had a good feeling that he wasn't supposed to hear that.

 

* * *

 

 

He managed to get back to his room without getting caught. Frisk sat down and sighed. He hadn't even thought of his family, if he was being honest. He was gone from their lives though, so they would be happier now. But, could he stay here? Frisk hadn't thought much about leaving, but perhaps he was a burden on Toriel too? The thought brought a knot to his stomach. Toriel didn't seem bothered by his presence, but still...

Frisk figured he should just sleep on it. It was still early in the day, but he had lost all of his appetite after that whole mess. A good nap never caused any harm, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bam! Here be Sans, in all his brief glory! 
> 
> Now you all know what is at stake if Sans does help Frisk out. So next chapter we shall perhaps learn a bit more about Frisk's dream? Or Frisk just up and leaves the place.
> 
> Or both! Who knows.


	4. The Escape Begins Part 1

_“We’ve done this tango before you know.”_

Once again, Frisk found himself stuck in some form of a murky void. He could now clearly see the black mass from before; though now the mass had a far more human shape to it. The creature bore white pinpricks for eyes, and occasionally dripped onto the dark tile below. It stared at him, aimlessly floating before him.

_“I mean, this whole DERTERMINATION thing is cute and all… But save yourself the trouble, eh?”_ It continued, apparently finding Frisk’s lack of malice amusing.

Still, Frisk knew this was a dream. He could see, so there was no other possibility. Even so, it was unusually vivid for a dream. Perhaps it was an odd form of night terrors? He was uncomfortable, but wasn’t exactly scared of the dripping form in front of him.

Seeming to have realized this, the creature rippled in anger; _“you shouldn’t write me off **Frisk**. I may be playing around now, but if I so pleased I could shatter your very soul in an instant. Then we would be right back where we started… Again.”_

Frisk’s mouth twitched, this was his first time here. He certainly would have remembered meeting monsters, definitely would have remembered hurting them if this thing was to be believed. The last thing he remembered before waking up in the room Toriel had given to him was... Well, him jumping to what he thought would have been his death. He had never been in these parts before that, Frisk was certain.

Not like his family would have let him out of the house anyway.

“Never been here.” Frisk stated frankly, getting a bit irritated with the creature’s presence. It was familiar, and that alone made him nauseous.

“ _Really?_ ” The creature sneered, before the world around Frisk began to spin and change.

When the world stilled again, he was standing in front of Toriel. Frisk was a bit surprised by this, actually seeing her for the first time. She was rather pretty, but in a very gentle and motherly way, she looked so soft.

However, those gentle features were twisted up in an expression that settled in Frisk’s stomach like a brick. She was scared, of him.

“My child, please… You cannot leave here. If you do, you will perish; just as the humans before you did.” She pleaded, brows furrowing over her red eyes.

Frisk ignored her, and instead lunged forward again, swiping at her with a knife. Toriel dodged it, barely, and retaliated with some fire that licked his fingers and forearms. Frisk cried out for Toriel to stop, but his mouth never opened.  
What was going on? His body wasn’t responding to anything he did! He tried to drop the knife, but instead his legs pushed him forward to Toriel again, trying to tear her face open, wondering if monsters bled. That wasn’t his thought! He didn’t care if monsters bled or not. He didn’t want to see Toriel, or anyone, get hurt!

“You will never survive out there, child. They will find you, and they will kill you.” Toriel breathed, clearly running out of strength for this battle.

Frisk’s body on the other hand, seemed perfectly ready to go. In fact, it lurched forward again. The sudden action caught Toriel off guard, rendering her unable to dodge. The knife cut through her stomach like butter, tearing through her high-wasted skirt and the soft fur beneath. Dust started to from around the wound, but before it could start to fall, her body began to deteriorate.

Frisk watched in cold horror as the mighty woman fell to her knees, paws clutching the wound. She wasn’t dead yet, as she looked up to the young human with nothing but love in her eyes.

“You are stronger than I thought… Listen well, young one. Go through the door; keep going… You will meet a skeleton and he will help you. Allow him to guide you through the back roads, you will eventually reach Asgore’s mansion. The way out is through the basement…. Do… not get… caught…” Toriel’s voice trailed off as her eyes clouded over, and she collapsed, turning into dust as soon as her body touched the ground.

 

* * *

 

 

Frisk shot up crying Toriel’s name, chest heaving with every breath. His world was black again, so he had to be awake. What was that? That was unlike any dream he ever had. Drawing his knees up to his chest, Frisk curled in on himself, his mind haunted by the image of Toriel’s death.

Just as his grip on his legs grew tighter, the door swung open with a loud bang. “Frisk! My child, are you alright?!”

He heard her as she scurried to the bed and felt her weight as the bed dipped forward. “I heard you call out for me, I worried someone broke in.” She whispered, placing a soft paw against his cheek. Frisk froze at the action, though the monster got the hint and removed her hand rather quick.

“Are you alright, little one?” She asked gently, to which Frisk gave a small nod. He was all right, a bit shaken, but all right.

“Nightmare.” Frisk explained quietly, hating the way his voice cracked as he spoke.

Toriel cooed and gently rubbed his shoulder, unsure how else to show comfort. It was still a little touchy-feely for his tastes, however it was still comforting, so Frisk leaned into it wordlessly.

It was a couple minutes later before Toriel spoke up, “Its morning anyway, dear. How about you have breakfast with me and some of the others?”

Frisk agreed eagerly. He wanted to get his mind off the nightmare, and he wanted to get a chance to explore more of the area. Being stuck in this room was really boring, even if he spent a lot of it regaining his strength. Still, Toriel seemed happy he had agreed. “I’ll bring you some fresh clothes, hold on.”

It was only now that Frisk realized he was still in his sweater and shorts. His hands patted down the old clothing and found that it was clean at least. He had been expecting some dirt or something else on it, but it was actually very clean. Pipit or Toriel must have cleaned it when he first arrived when they were treating his wounds.

True to her word, Toriel came back with some clothes and laid them on the foot of the bed. She hovered a bit, unsure how capable Frisk was alone, “ah, do you need help?”

Frisk shook his head and slid out from under the covers. He trailed his fingers along the edge of the bed until he reached the clothes. The human inspected what had been given to him; the shirt was the first thing he picked up. It has a crisp feeling to it, reminding him of a suit shirt. He was also given some overalls, though they seemed to be dress pants instead of the jeans he would expect with overalls.

It seemed he would be dressing rather dapper for breakfast. Frisk didn’t mind, he liked dressing fancy, especially when he got to wear actual suits, which was once in a blue moon. His thoughts moved back to the present when he heard Toriel inform him that she would meet him in the hallway and left, shutting the door behind her.

The human wormed his way out of his clothes, adjusting the bandages that were pressed flush against his chest. He was surprised that it was still there, though was pleased it was nonetheless.

Frisk was surprisingly self-dependent, and was changed in no time. He stepped outside, and Toriel made some sort of noise. “You look so handsome Frisk.”

The human beamed at this, he loved being called handsome. He startled a bit though when he felt Toriel’s hands brush his hair up as she tied something around his neck. When she pulled back, Frisk inspected what she had done using his hands, and realized she had given him a tie to wear as well.

Frisk didn’t miss his sight as much anymore, but occasionally he wished he could see again. This was one of those times; he wished he could see how nice he looked, since he never got to wear nice clothes like this growing up.

Toriel gently patted Frisk’s head, to snap him out of it, “you’re perfect, little one.”

 

* * *

 

 

Toriel’s living room was bigger than Frisk had thought before. It was big enough to fit a long table and to sit many monsters comfortably. Of course, he was seated right next to Toriel, with Pipit sitting on his other side. The other monsters weren’t sure how to react to him, he gathered. Some of them were fearful of him, others were curious, but didn’t wish to offend him.

“What’s it like in a human city?” One meekly asked. He heard a soft buzzing so Frisk decided this must have been a flying monster of sorts. Kind of like a fairy or something.

“Loud and busy.” Frisk responded, though the hum from the creature told him it wasn’t exactly what they had been looking for in an answer.

Still, all the attention, even if not direct, was a bit stressful. He was thankful for Toriel, who had been a presence around him the entire time. It reminded him of a mama bear protecting her cub. Frisk wondered if he called her ‘mom’ if she would be offended.

Breakfast had been officially called, and everyone sat down to eat. There weren’t as many as Frisk would have expected, though Pipit explained that this was only the inner circle: the monsters Toriel trusted the most.

Frisk poked at the food on his plate, it didn’t have much of a smell. He scooped up a bit with his spoon and tasted it. Surprised at the lack of flavor, he wasn’t really sure how to react. Still, he was hungry, so he munched away on the bland and oddly textured food.

_I wonder what noises Pipit would make of I scooped her eye out._

Coughing, Frisk nearly chocked on his food. Toriel was of course immediately there, gently rubbing his back as he coughed. After a moment, he calmed down some, and ignored the good-natured chuckles from Pipit.

“S-sorry.” He quickly apologized, feeling like he had interrupted the comfortable silence the table had.

“Nah, its whatever man. It happens… Unless you’re Napstablook over ‘ere, he never eats.” He heard one of the monsters say, brushing it off. A couple other monsters assured that he was fine, which Frisk had to admit, made him feel better.

Still, Frisk was a bit surprised at that thought. Where did it even come from? It couldn’t have been his thought, right?

He shuddered, and decided he wasn’t particularly hungry.

His hand wouldn’t let go of the spoon though.

_I bet she would squeal, how would the other monsters react? They would probably get some sick pleasure from it too, seeing one of them feeling pain. Imagine how powerful it would feel, to just be in control like that. It would be so satisfying, so easy. Imagine the sounds she could make._

Frisk immediately used his other hand to pry open the one gripping the spoon and sat on his hands once the spoon was free. What the actual fuck? Frisk hung his head, trying not to make accidental eye contact with any of the other monsters, lest he start getting any more crazy ideas.

What was wrong with him? He never had any thoughts like thought before! It just… It wasn’t natural.

His mind bounced back to his dream. Could… Could have the dream been a memory? No, impossible. If Toriel was killed, how could she be here now and rubbing his back?

“My child?” Toriel whispered next to him, concern lacing her gentle voice.

He was just shaken up from the memory. Dream, he corrected. Frisk could feel eyes on him, staring through him, even. They must know, surely one of them could read minds. They have to know what just went through his head, but it wasn’t him. He wouldn’t hurt a soul, he couldn’t.

The grip on his shoulder tightened a bit with a soft shake, “Frisk.”

The human startled, snapping out of his spiraling thoughts. “...I don’t feel very good.”

Toriel’s hand left his shoulder and gently grabbed his wrist while addressing the other monsters, “excuse me friends, feel free to continue eating, but breakfast will be adjourned early today.”

She gently led him out of the room and into a room where the stone floor was replaced with tiles. Easing him down next to what Frisk assumed was a toilet of sorts, he felt her soft hand brush against his forehead.  
“You are clamming up my child, have you any allergies?”

“N-no. I just… Got… overwhelmed?” Frisk tried, offering a weak smile. A breath came from Toriel akin to a sigh, but she didn’t press any further on the matter.

Frisk didn’t actually need to throw up, so he sat there in silence, letting his fingernails tap against the cool tile. The little clicks it made was oddly comforting, and gave him something to concentrate on instead of the woman before him.

This was all because of that stupid dream. What sort of dream even was that? It obviously wasn’t a memory, hell; his subconscious probably saw a stuffed animal once and just had him ‘ _see_ ’ that for what Toriel looked like. Obviously.

Frisk shuddered. Though he was curious, so the human reached out in the direction he presumed the goat’s face was in, and he nailed it. Toriel made a surprised noise, and recoiled a bit, but brought her face back into his hands quickly after.

She was so soft, like his old rabbit’s fur. His hands trailed down her face, feeling a muzzle of sorts, and a soft nose that reminded him of a goat. He felt her strong cheekbones and brow, and her long floppy ears, then up to a pair of modest horns on the top of her head. Oh god.

**Oh god.**

She looked exactly like she did in his dream. The realization hit Frisk like a truck, causing his to retract his arms immediately. The dreams were real… he had killed Toriel before. How? He’s never even been here, how could he kill her?! What was happening to him, what sort of fucked uptime loop was this?

“My child, please. It is alright, I am here and you are safe, no need to panic.” She cooed urgently upon noticing Frisk’s labored breathing and paled skin.

“Come now, you must have exhausted your body too much, let us get you back to your room where you can rest. We can bake a pie later today, how’s that?”

Frisk nodded dryly, allowing him to be brought to his feet and knack to the familiar smell and feel of the room he had grown accustomed to. He made his way to the bed and sat down, too frightened to lie down, lest he fell asleep.

“Thanks mom.” He muttered tiredly. Realizing what he said, he opened his mouth to try and fix it, go back on his word or something, but was cut off but Toriel speaking.

“You are welcome, my child. Get some rest, I’ll come get you a bit later.” She responded, sounding almost proud.

Frisk sighed after the door closed and drew his legs up to his chest. What was wrong with him? How could he have memories of a place he’s never been? Frisk found himself picking at the hem of his pants; maybe it was just some weird lucid dreaming? His eyes didn’t work though, so how could he _see_ in the memory?

Nothing made sense to him anymore. Maybe he really did need a nap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YOOO. Check out that update though.
> 
> Sorry it was taking so long! I was originally going to make this a super long chapter, but I decided to break it up so you guys can at least get some sort of update while I finish the second half.
> 
> So enjoy!


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